Man held on $250K after bus driver hit by hot coffee

A CTA bus driver was attacked and severely burned when a person threw hot coffee on his face and body Friday night.

A CTA bus driver was attacked and severely burned when a person threw hot coffee on his face and body Friday night.

Geoff ZiezulewiczTribune reporter

A Chicago man faces felony battery charges after he allegedly threw hot coffee in a CTA driver's face and assaulted him Friday after missing the bus.

Quintin M. Jackson, 32, is charged with aggravated battery to a transit employee and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm in connection to the incident, which left the driver with second-degree burns that could lead to permanent scarring, according to court records and Cook County prosecutors.

Jackson, of the 1500 block of South Millard Avenue, was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bail Sunday at Cook County bond court.

The 49-year-old victim was taken to Loyola University Medical Center's burn unit after the attack and was treated for severe burns to the face, neck and arms, Assistant State's Attorney Bridget O'Brien said.

Jackson, holding a hot cup of coffee, approached the victim in his parked bus Friday at the Jefferson Park Transit Center on the 4900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, according to court records.

Jackson began berating the driver, accusing him of previously not stopping to allow him on the bus, O'Brien said.

The driver told Jackson he had not seen him and that Jackson had not been at a valid stop, she said.

Jackson became irate and threw the scalding coffee on the victim's face, temporarily blinding him in his left eye, O'Brien said.

Jackson then jumped on the bus driver and began punching and choking him, according to court records.

The driver eventually got free of Jackson and ran off the bus, with Jackson in pursuit, O'Brien said.

The victim called the police as he was running from Jackson, and Jackson hid behind some garbage cans in a nearby alley, O'Brien said.

Police arrived and returned to the bus a few minutes later with Jackson, she said.

Both the victim and another witness fingered him as the attacker, O'Brien said.